As much as I love my iPad — and I definitely do — I’m always glad to see other folks starting to compete in the tablet market space.  Samsung got there reasonably quickly with their Tab of course, and RIM has entered the field with their new Blackberry Playbook (which Dan got a look at not too long ago). One of the knocks Apple has taken with regard to their iPad (and iPhone) is the lack of Flash support.  Well, RIM isn’t going there; the Playbook supports a whole buncha’ Adobe features.  ”What features are those, Doug?” I hear you cry.  Well, read on! Aside from Flash Player support for a full web browsing experience Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I am reasonably sure that when he was studying mathematics at Technical University in Budapest in the depths of the Soviet era that Ernő Rubik had no idea that, within a few years, he would be creating a world-famous toy that became a cottage industry — much less that would make his name synonymous with “colored cube thingie”.  Life is funny that way sometimes. But, here we are.  And not only is the word “Rubik” universally viewed in concert with “cube”, but also snake, magic, 360, and I don’t know what all.  Including today’s new thing:  coasters.  Yup, coasters; those things you put under your perspiring glasses so that they don’t stain your wood tables.  Further… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

With the release of the PC version of Lionhead Studios’ acclaimed action-RPG just around the corner, we return to the fantasy world of Albion for a comprehensive review of the maturing title on the XBOX 360. Considering the game’s predecessor, Fable II, never made it off of Microsoft’s Xbox console, should PC gamers fork over a full fifty dollars for an aging re-release? The Hype: “Fable III” is the latest installment to the action packed and critically acclaimed Xbox 360 exclusive franchise that has sold more than six million copies. Fans new and returning will now embark on an epic adventure, where the race for the crown is only the beginning of your spectacular journey. Five decades have passed… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It has been SIX MONTHS since I wrote that PopCap was planning to bring games such as Plants vs. Zombies to Android, at which time they estimated ‘early 2011′. Well, better late than never – they have now released their first game Chuzzle for Android! Go grab it now for FREE! But wait … their is more to the story! Chuzzle is available EXCLUSIVELY on the Amazon App Store for Android! From an article at PC Magazine: “Our relationship with Amazon is pivotal to PopCap’s overall strategy in bringing a growing roster of mobile title to the ever-widening base of smartphone users,” PopCap’s senior director of Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Coming to you straight out of Taiwan, a small country off the southeast coast of China, the most innovative mouse available in the mainstream tech world is now available in North America. Crafted to fit snugly around your fingers, the newest entry to the remote control family is activated solely by your thumb, providing a uniquely flexible take on computer peripherals. Created and manufactured by the aptly named Genius corporation, the mouse is meant to come as a pint-sized revolutionary, a wireless liberator fighting off genuine banality and discomfort. Really though, it’s just a ring-shaped mouse. As the recipient of an iF award, Genius is certainly steering clear of the modest approach when it comes to advertising. For those of… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Since this week brings us the PC port of Fable III, astute numerologists are likely asking the question “Hey, doesn’t #2 come before #3″? For XBOX360 gamers, this seems a silly question, as they got to play Fable II back in 2008 (my son loves it). But for PC gamers it was never released, and today we get information that seems to indicate that it never will. From an interview at Beefjack, Lionheart studios Senior designer Mike West said: “With Fable III the team and time was right to create a PC version,” he told BeefJack. “Once the game went to submission the content creators started working on DLC and therefore the coders Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Remember the old “It takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’” bit from Timex? Well you ain’t seen nuthin’ until you’ve seen ioSafe’s newest hard drive, the ioSafe Rugged Portable, shot with a shotgun over and over  … and yet keep on working. We saw just that, and we were impressed. Here’s how the company explains this rather large, portable drive: The ultimate portable hard drive backed by the ultimate warranty Data has become increasingly mobile, but with that increased mobility comes increased risk. Delicate portable storage devices can easily be dropped during travel, stolen or exposed to adverse environmental conditions such as extreme temperatures, sand or moisture — all factors which Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Two things happened on the same day a couple of weeks ago: 1) I bought an iPad 2 and, 2) Apple released a firmware upgrade for iOS. Unfortunately, the latter all but enfeebled the former. Like a good little Apple fangirl, I upgraded to iOS 4.3.3 on both my new iPad 2 and on my original iPad. Within a few hours I noticed a problem: the WiFi kept dropping its signal on both devices. Here’s how it seemed to go: I’m using the WiFi and it suddenly hesitates, ultimately grinding to a halt and up comes that dreaded “no connection” error. Now, mind you, as an added touch to drive the user Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The other day I wrote about the free offer Rovio was having on Angry Birds for Chrome. Now you can get a fan-made recreation of the original Super Mario Bros for Chrome … also for free! Here are some of the details: Super Mario Bros. Crossover is a fan game that recreates the original Super Mario Bros. and allows you to play it as characters from other games. It’s a throwback to classic video games and is a nice reminder that games don’t have to be complicated to be fun. It is not intended to inhibit the copyright holders of the original games it is based on in any way. Instead, it is a Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today’s Gear Deal brings us Lenovo’s ThinkPad X220 12.5″ Laptop at a huge savings! The Lenovo ThinkPad X220 laptop is   the ideal laptop for mobile computing, weighing in at less than 3 pounds, equipped with 12.5-inch LED display, and powered by Core i3 or Core i5 processor with Intel HD graphics. Battery life promises to run up to 12 hours with its optional 9-cell battery. Optional upgrades to consider: finger print reader and/or touchpad, mobile broadband, up to 8GB ram, SSD and more.   Our GearSponsor is referring to this deal as a doorbuster and here is why. You can get a customizable Core i7, X220 with 4GB, Win 7 Home 64, a 320GB 7200rpm HDD, Intel… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’m a huge fan of Slacker Radio but I have to admit, it has been a little long in the tooth lately. I mean, they still haven’t got an iPad app which means you need to use the Slacker iPhone app at 2X resolution on your iPad. Ugly!! Moreover, services like RDIO have made selective music streaming seamlessly ease while Slacker has kept to their same old model. Well, Slacker is hitting a milestone today with the release of a new iPad app AND Slacker Premium, a service for selectively streaming the music you want when you want it!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

B&N was out today bragging about the new NOOKcolor apps, and rightfully so…they’ve apparently had over 1 million downloads in just a week! This is very impressive, since many of the apps in the NOOK store are paid. In addition, this gives a decent pulse on how many NOOKs out there are rooted; presumably most of the people running a rooted NOOK aren’t updating to get apps they would already have. I’m basing this bit of conjecture on the popular apps listed in B&N’s press release. The paid apps are all games, and the free ones are all productivity apps like calendar, tasks, etc. These are what you would want if you wanted to, say, turn your NOOK… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Now, if you read this feature regularly, you can be forgiven for thinking that USBfever only puts out stuff for Apple products.  But they don’t, my good friends!  No indeedy; while yes, I post a lot of iPad and iPhone and iPod gear items from them, it’s not all Apple, I promise you. This week is a good example.  Yup, there are a couple of Apple items, but you also have your Galaxy Tab items, as well as something–no, I’m not kidding–that checks your scalp.  I don’t know why they call it the “scaloupe checker”; I suspect it’s a portmanteau of “scalp” and “loupe” (like a jewelry loupe, you know?).  But there it is. And… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Now this is pretty neat. Not long ago Seagate rolled out the slimmest portable hard drive on the market, the GoFlex Slim. We reviewed it here and I’ve been using it daily since! Now they are offering a 564GB iPad 2! Okay, that’s not quite accurate but they DO make it possible for you to have up to 564GB of storage available to you on the go anywhere, any time! All you need is a 64GB iPad and Seagate’s brand new GoFlex Satellite. The GoFlex Satellite is the first battery-powered external hard drive to wirelessly extend the storage capacity of any Wi-Fi enabled mobile device. With 500GB and Wi-Fi access over Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Although I use my iPad 2 most of the time I kept a 16GB WiFi iPad 1 around for review purposes (as well as the convenience of keeping an iPad in the den full time). I’m glad I did keep the original iPad because I am still coming across some awesome accessories designed specifically for it. And since there is still a strong market for the original iPad (you can get a refurb unit in perfect condition on the cheap right now) there is still a good market for iPad 1 accessories. A good example of that is the miFrame from Striped Sail. Of all the accessories I have reviewed this is definitely… Continue reading on Gear Diary …