I live in a rural area which is fantastic for wide open spaces and natural beauty … yet not so great for timely FedEx deliveries or wireless service. We  have much better GSM (AT&T & T-Mobile) coverage than CDMA (Sprint & Verizon); 3G is not here yet, so we must be content with EDGE. The nearest tower is several miles away from our home, and our area is hilly, so although we do get a cellular signal, it can be weak. When standing outside our house I can get three to four bars on the iPhone 4, which is pretty fantastic; calls are clear and everything is good. But step inside, under our… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Our mobile devices have become more powerful. The screens have become brighter and crisper. Our reliance on such devices has exploded. And battery technology seems to have hardly improved. Often times the best you can do to get longer battery life is to just increase the size and capacity of the battery. It is not a great option but it is what it is. Battery life was a huge issue at CES once again this year. As a result, since getting home we have gone in search of large, high-capacity batteries that would have kept our devices juiced with ease. We have found some excellent options and, over the next few weeks, will have a… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

“Boring.” That is how my spouse described the 2011 Toyota Camry Hybrid I tested recently. “The interior is boring, the ride is boring … it’s just boring.” It is also based on one of the best-selling cars in America for more than a decade. I guess boring is what REALLY sells when it comes to passenger cars here. The Toyota Camry has also garnered quite a few automotive accolades as well including, for the second year in a row, being ranked No. 1 on the “American-Made Index” as compiled by the editors at Cars.com. The 2010 Camry was also rated “The… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As I have said, one cool thing about doing Music Diary Reviews is the contacts with various music folks, from established artists to young upcoming players. But one item came in a round-about way through Judie the other day that simply screamed out for me to check it out. If that sounds ambiguous, it is intentional – we had no idea if it was going to be good or crap! Here is the message Judie got: Free Billy Franks (Your FourSquare Friend) Compilation Album Download As I am relatively new to FourSquare, I thought I would offer all my new found comrades a copy of my free compilation album, Euphoria Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Photo courtesy of the The International Business Times When all of Iran seemed to be exploding in the wake of “President” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad‘s “victory” in the 2009 election, the news was noteworthy not just because a country struggling against authoritarian rule was trying to free itself, but also because of how the news got out:  Twitter.  Before cell phones integrated with digital cameras, smart phones, and Twitter, it’s possible that the world at large might have received no notice at all of the massive protests, deaths, vicious governmental crackdowns, and all the other info about Iran’s “Green Revolution”. Now we’re getting some similar happenings in North Africa.  If you follow the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Imagine this situation. The phone rings with the caller id displaying your significant other. You gladly answer the phone but the voice on the other line sounds strange. The caller id never lies, so you believe it is who the phone says it is. A horrible, sinking feeling comes over you as the caller confesses to cheating with your best friend, complete with gory details. Your life is instantly falling apart with feeling of rage, sadness and confusion overwhelming you as the caller laughs and hangs up. Later, the complete conversation is found for all to see on Facebook with you as the victim. Believe it or not, this is all possible with a… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I wanted to do a quick follow-up post on my post-CES piece on Yurbuds because the company just gained themselves a new fan. The Yurbuds are special earbuds that stay in your ears during exercise and although they are priced below $50 sound like earbuds costing much much more. So here is the thing, my wife Elana hates wearing ear buds. She finds them uncomfortable and, at times, even painful and hates them coming out all the time. As a result she won’t wear them. This poses a problem for her since she works out all the time and would love to be able to wear buds. So… I gave her the pair… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Generally speaking, having ‘do you remember where you were when ___ ‘ moments tend to mark tragedies rather than triumphs. And that is certainly true today. I remember that I was completing a Master’s project and contemplating whether to head to work or become a permanent student and living in the fraternity house in January of 2006. We had moved the big TV to the living room in anticipation of the Super Bowl, and a bunch of us were huddled around to watch the Challenger launch. It was a light scene, quickly becoming confused and then quiet when it became clear what had happened. Today marks the 25th anniversary of the day when a… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We end the week with a Gear Deal on the Sony PlayStation 3 Slim 160GB Gaming Console. The PS3 Slim is 33% smaller and 36% lighter than its predecessor while having more features. It include a 160GB HDD, built-in Wi-Fi, Blu-ray player and BRAVIA Sync (HDMI-CEC). The bundle our Gear Sponsor found will get all of that PLUS a $50 Gift Card and a free membership to the PlayStation Network to you for just $299.99. Better still, it will even ship for free. Best deal PlayStation 3 PS3 Slim 160GB + $50 Gift Card – LogicBUY via LogicBUY Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Hardcore gamers – particular online shooter fans – will spend a premium price to get an ultra-high resolution mouse with loads of features and configurability. One of the extreme companies making these ‘power mice’ is Rude Gameware, with style and arrogance and cool technology to match. Now they are announcing their latest product, the Fierce Laser Gaming Mouse V2, a 5000DPI, 1000Hz mouse with 7 programmable buttons and personalization and custom balancing. It looks really cool as well! Here is the press release: Jupiter, FL.-January 25, 2011-Rude Gameware, a gaming company that will go to Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Ok, if ever there was a time to take notice of the canary in the coal mine, this is it. Amazon announced another mondo quarter of earnings, but the big news isn’t just profits. The first bullet point of their press release: Amazon is selling 115 Kindle books for every 100 paperbacks they sell. Kindle books are OUTSELLING PAPERBACKS. It’s the end of the world as publishing knew it, but I doubt they feel fine. As I’ve said, repeatedly, quality paperbacks have been the bread and butter of the book industry for years. Amazon didn’t break out quality paperbacks versus mass markets, but even if it’s just the “paperbacks” category that’s still a big deal. Especially… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

No less than Steve Jobs himself quipped that the new iPod nano would make a great watch. From that moment, people have been thinking about way to use the recently shrunk iPod as a piece of wearable jewelry. Well, since the beginning of January I have gone from having zero iPod nano watch bands to having a choice of three different ones. Each take a slightly different approach to making the nano wearable and each brings with it its own sense of style, or lack there-of. So let’s take a look at each of them and ask, “Which nano watch band reigns supreme?” Continue reading on Gear Diary …

While at CES, Dan gave me a code he had picked up at Incipio’s booth to create one of their “Bespoke Cases” for free. Curious about the product and the resulting case, I decided to give it a try with a picture I’d been holding onto for a while. Granted, the picture wasn’t as high resolution as I might have liked, but I thought it would be cool to see it on a case. After downloading the Incipio Bespoke App, I went through the customization process and added my picture. Although the option was present in the app to “move and scale” photos in my library, this particular one couldn’t be manipulated enough to… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you are a male between 13 and 25, or are the parent or significant other of a boy between 13 and 25, chances are you already know the Gears of War franchise well. The ultra-violent third-person shooter for the XBOX is extremely popular with that particular slice of the gaming demographic. My older son absolutely loves it … my wife, not so much. Fans of the franchise have been anxiously awaiting the next entry – Gears of War 3, due out for the holiday 2011 season. Now gaming accessory vendor Mad Catz is working with Epic Games to create officially licensed accessories for the game. Why does this matter: two… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I love new technology when it hits the automotive market, but sometimes I just cannot help wonder if someone else did not think of this first. Two releases I spotted this morning jumped out at me, and I was overcome by a strong sense of déjà vu. First, Ford Motor Company: Ford is aggressively accelerating its commitment to wirelessly connected intelligent vehicles – known as vehicle-to-vehicle communications – becoming the first automaker to build prototype vehicles for demonstrations across the U.S., doubling its intelligent vehicle investment in 2011 and dedicating even more scientists to developing this technology. “Ford believes intelligent vehicles that talk to each other through advanced Wi-Fi are the next frontier of collision Continue reading on Gear Diary …