Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! This is the lightest release week all year! In fact, I waited an extra day to see if my sources were missing something, but alas … this is one of those weeks to catch up on stuff. There are a couple of Wii games, a 3DS game, and a few PC games. This week sees the release of the long-in-beta Darkspore, which based on the beta is a decent but not exceptional game. There is also the flight combat simulator IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover which looks absolutely gorgeous based on gameplay videos. And while there isn’t really… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

About two weeks ago Thomas mentioned a brand-new microphone that was about to be released, the Sampson Meteor Mic. He told me that it not only had a great look to it but that all reports indicated it worked beautifully. It was small, easily transportable thanks to its fold up design, and it looked pretty cool. Most importantly it apparently offered excellent sound quality. I told him I’d have to look into it. I was fortunate enough to have a review unit waiting for me just two days later. I’ve been using it ever since and have been incredibly impressed with it. I like the look as it has a bit of the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

  You know those jokes that your Aunt Gertrude likes to send? The ones that come with 9000 other email addresses in the To: line since she doesn’t know how to use the BCC line and be respectful of others privacy? Well sometimes they are actually kinda funny. Like this one… Here is the proof that we have become too dependent on our computers: Question: Are you Male or female? To find out the answer, Look down… – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

In part two of this series on using DSLR cameras for capturing high-definition video I teased to the new D5100 camera coming from Nikon. It’s here … and my favorite little camera store here in Dallas had one. Now it’s mine. What drew me to the new unit is the variable-angle LCD monitor which will make shooting my own stand-ups a snap. And the introduction of full-time-servo autofocus (AF-F) to the HDSLR line when capturing video. The D5100 loses the additional memory card slot that the D7000 has and overall it is a smaller and lighter camera than the D7000. What kind… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I tend to keep my Mac laptops for two ‘generations’, which allows me to extract maximum value from them in terms of return on investment before trading them in or selling them. At that point there is still solid performance and decent value remaining. When the iPad 2 launch was approaching, I decided to look at the possibility of trading in my 2008 Macbook Pro. Lately I have used Gazelle, as they give a reasonable value and their process is so quick and painless that it is worth taking a little bit less because of the time savings. But as I looked I realized that I had fallen three generations… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

My office is business formal attire, which means men wear suits and ties and women wear pantsuits/skirt suits. However, men have a leg up here, since men’s suits typically have pockets big enough to hold wallet, keys, etc. Women’s suits, not so much. Apparently we’re only going to keep the world’s tiniest stick of gum in there. In any case, this means it’s always key to have a nice bag with you at all times. Do you opt for a small purse plus a briefcase, or do you find a bag that’s stylish enough for everyday carrying but roomy and functional enough to use as a laptop bag/professional bag? Skooba Design thinks it can step up and be that… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Just so you know, I spent one whole year as a stay-at-home Dad.  We had just adopted my son Joseph from Taiwan and wanted someone at home full-time to take care of him, and since my wife Sami had better stock options and was making more money than me, why not me?  One thing I never got used to, though, is the fact that no matter how “liberated” this country is supposed to be, no matter that the feminist movement is now old enough to be in the history books, no matter that I lived in the liberal, liberated bastion of the San Francisco Bay Area, I was still viewed with various combinations of shock, derision, surprise… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Sony are apparently either trying to make me feel bad for them or stave off my scathing review of their abysmal Qriocity streaming music service. Either way, it is working! For more than four days now, Sony’s Playstation Network (PSN) has been completely down … and it has been fairly unreliable for me for a couple of weeks prior. As noted at Yahoo! Tech News, Sony has yet to fully disclose everything that is happening in terms of scope and potential exposure of personal information. But they have made it clear this is due to an ‘external attack’. And whatever I have said about Sony in the past, this malicious attack… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It has been just over a year since the iPad arrived, and while it took a while, there are now loads of great games available that take advantage of the large screen and form factor. If you ask most iPad users, you would hear that they are paying A LOT for their apps, about 2x what iPhone users pay. But there are feelings … and there is DATA! Site GamesOnTheiPad looked at the pricing of iPad games. Here is a chunk of their findings: The following is a breakdown of iPad games currently found in the U.S. App Store as of April 1st, 2011. The prices indicated are in American Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One of the coolest things about the 6th generation Apple iPod nano is how it can be attached to a strap, transforming it into a watch with benefits. Dan has covered many of the available straps here previously, but these by iWatchz look so fun and colorful that they are worth mentioning for anyone who is looking for a colorful Mother’s Day surprise, a gift for a grad, or simply a cool way to wear their own nano. iWatchz is introducing their new alligator print Timepiece Collection and the Carbon Collection, but I still think their colored rubber ones are the cutest. With prices from $24.99 to… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We would like to add a few new Gear Diary Contributors… You don’t have to have prior writing experience, and you don’t have to have an English degree; the main requirements are that you have an outspoken passion for technology, that you be able to explain sometimes complicated concepts (or products) in language that everyone can understand, that you know how to use spell check, and that you be able to make a deadline. The hours are terrible, the pay is non-existent, and you would have to be absolutely crazy to submit to this torture. But the payoff (assuming that you make it through the hazing period) is the interaction you’ll have with thousands of other… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We begin the week with the new 2011 Model Samsung PN51D550 51″ 3D 600Hz Plasma HDTV. The TV comes bundled with Samsung 3D Glasses and an HDMI cable so you will be ready to go as soon as it arrives. The PN51D550 has a 51″ screen and features 3D picture performance, Crystal Full HD Engine, AllShare DLNA networking, ConnectShare Movie, 4 HDMI inputs and much more. Normally $1,362.99 our Gear Sponsor has tracked down $283 in instant savings and a $30 off coupon code. That brings the price down to just $1,049 and it will even ship for free. $191 Off Samsung PN51D550 51-inch 3D 600Hz Plasma HDTV via LogicBUY Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Look, just because your humble news item writer has to take a week off here or there to concentrate on his day job, that doesn’t mean that USBFever does the same.  Nosiree; quite the contrary, in fact:  USBFever’s busy little engineering beavers continue to crank away on stuff no matter how lazy I get.  External power packs, new cables, portable battery packs, cradles . . . they keep on keeping on.  Like with this week’s Dual Standby / Dual SIM with Power Pack for iPhone 4, pictured above. But why listen to me blather, eh?  Here’s the full list of this week’s USBFever releases: Dual Standby / Dual SIM with Power Pack for iPhone Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Hurry hurry hurry!  For a limited time, the iPhone app Where To?, with its “augmented reality” features, is available at the iTunes store for one third off! “Okay, wait a sec now, Doug,” I hear you say; “What exactly is this thing?”  Hey, glad you asked!  If you’re not a nerdly type, you might not be aware of this “augmented reality” thing, where a number of software developers have taken the capabilities now available with GPS, mapping, the iPhone’s camera and locator functionality, and squooshed them together in a way that allows you to hold up the ol’ iPhone to stuff, and have, well, information pop up about what your camera is looking at, like… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Does it honk you off that, in their infinite wisdom, Apple decided to not include a coverflow option on the iPad?  ”What’s up with that?” you probably ask yourself every time you listen to your music on your iPad.  Well, if you’re like me and have app OCD, you ask yourself that, anyway. In any event, the folks at MetApps agreed, and came up with their own version for the iPad–CoverFlow HD.  The new version of which is out, and available for your happy downloading at iTunes stores near you, with an MSRP of only $2.99. Full information below. Imre Kátai is pleased to announce the new version of CoverFlow HD. After one month of Continue reading on Gear Diary …