Last October we posted about the then upcoming Vertu Constellation Quest, their first QWERTY keyboard phone, a phone which compared to all of their previous models was a veritable smartphone. Half-jokingly (or perhaps presciently), Larry stated that it might be my next phone, and when we were in Vegas for CES this January, I stopped by the Vertu boutique so I could see one in person. I thought it was lovely; I asked for a catalog, I fantasized about putting one on my American Express for a minute or two … and then I stepped away from the boutique and forgot about it. Until Drew… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Call of Duty Black Ops was a huge success, hitting $1 billion in sales before the end of 2010. It remains a very popular multiplayer game, and now Steam has opened up the multiplayer game for FREE all this weekend! Here are the details: Jump in the Call of Duty®: Black Ops Free Multiplayer Weekend now through June 5th at 1pm Pacific Time! If you already have Steam installed you can click here to install or play. If you don’t have Steam, you can download it here. The multiplayer game is very active and loads of fun – you won’t have any issues finding any sort of game… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Yesterday CDProject held a press event – and the outcome was the announcement that EA had signed on as a publisher on GoodOldGames! This opens a flood of great games that EA owns, starting with three amazing titles at great prices! Here is what GoG has to say: In a ground-breaking, earthshaking, and jaw-dropping deal we’ve managed to sign with EA and will be releasing more than 25 legendary classics from the globally renowned publisher. With today’s announcement three widely known and much awaited brands get the revival treatment from GOG.com: Wing Commander: Privateer, Dungeon Keeper and Ultima Underworld 1+2. Sadly they pre-announced that the list of 25 will NOT include… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We are gearing up for next week’s big E3 exposition, during which we expect to hear some cool stuff from Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft about their next moves in the gaming market. But unlike a couple of years ago when their PSP Go reveal was the worst kept secret of the show, this year Sony is coming out up front and talking about their new handheld, dubbed the NGP. First off, apparently the name will not be either the PSP 2 or the NGP … but rather the PS Vita. Next, we are hearing that Sony has ensured that the NGP will be backwards compatible with all existing PSP games… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This week Plants vs. Zombies launched for Android on the Amazon Store, which means that there is pretty much a version for every major platform! Chances are, if you have been reading GearDiary for a while you know we love the game, and have picked it up on one of the big sales we’ve noted over the last couple of years. But if not, you might be wondering – what version should I get? I snapped a picture of three systems running the game – at the top left is my Droid Pro running the Android version. The top right is my iPod Touch 4th Gen, and the bottom is the iPad. I… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

They say that music is the international language (actually, in Better Off Dead we learn that ‘love’ is that language), crossing borders and languages and cultures with its ability to transcend the spoken word. This afternoon two titans of the jazz music genre – Wynton Marsalis and Igor Butman – will join forces in a concert that will be streamed LIVE from Ukraine! Here are the details: America’s cultural ambassador, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis will join Russia’s premier jazz musician, saxophonist Igor Butman in a concert that reaches across time and geopolitical borders. Jazz — America’s model for collaboration and improvisation– is coming to you LIVE from Lviv, Ukraine’s cultural Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We end the week with a Gear Deal on the Lenovo Essentials G575 15.6″ AMD Fusion Laptop. It is currently  available starting at $649  but thanks to our Gear Sponsor you can get $100 instant savings  and take an additional 10% off. That brings the final price to  $494.10 and it will even ship for free. If you want something with a bit more muscle you might consider the higher-end G575 model. It features an  AMD Fusion E-350 1.6GHz dual core, Win 7 Home 64, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6310 graphics, 4GB DDR3 RAM, a 15.6″ 1366×768 glossy LCD, a 750GB 5400rpm HDD, a DVD burner and a 6-cell battery. This model starts… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Yes, these really are the “world’s first Tactical Earphones”. These earphones from MUNITIO are “nine millimeter, titanium coated, understated, craftsman quality, and ops ready”. Sure they look like bullets but that is only the beginning. These earphones are made from a machined copper alloy housing that is coated in titanium and, as a result, have a killer sound that offers “unmatched sound purity, natural noise cancellation and durability”. To continue the theme they have SiliconeHollowPoints with noise isolating technology designed for secure comfortable fit, resulting in lower volume levels and better sounding music Kevlar® reinforced fabric cable combining light-weight with high Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There is no question that it is thin and fast, but is the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 a contender? That’s the question Francis and I had at this evening’s Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 event in Manhattan. The event, sponsored by NetShelter in conjunction with Samsung, gave us the opportunity to check out the latest Honeycomb tablet. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be released in limited quantity next week. How limited? We learned tonight that it will be released in one Best Buy store in New York initially. That’s one way to try and ensure Apple-esque lines at a device release. We had a chance to go hands on with the tablet a week before… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Elana and I are both using our MacBook Air’s as our primary computers and could not be happier. (She has an 11″ and I have a 13″.) Both of us have Rain Design’s mStand and love the simple, elegant way it raises the laptop up so that the screen is at perfect eye-level. And we both use a Bluetooth keyboard and pointing device. Elana uses Apple’s MagicMouse, and I use a Magic Trackpad. That’s where the issue comes in. Having the trackpad and… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The world of photography with the iPhone, or iPhoneography, is a growing phenomenon and photography related apps are emerging faster than most can keep up. Most of these apps do little for enhancing the initial photography experience in that none allow for optical manipulation of the scene, merely digital. Enter USBFever.com and their Wide Angle + (Macro) + Fish Eye + 2X + 8X + 12X Telephoto Lens Combo for iPhone 4G.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

See the second preview of the upcomiing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows™ – Part 2 the videogame releasing this July.

A week ago I could have told you two things: first that Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ would debut in the #1 spot, and second that the Amazon ‘giveaway’ would push an awful lot of copies. What is the source of my mystical powers? The fact that even I, as a non-pop music person, knew the release date and other pertinent details long before the launch. I cannot imagine that anyone with any regular exposure to commercial TV or radio or the internet who didn’t know about this. How over-the-top was the promotion? From an article at MTV News: no album in recent memory has been promoted to the Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Magicka just keeps on rolling out the DLC packs, but this time the trinkets help support a good cause! Arrowhead Games has just completed the $0.99 Magicka Nippon DLC, which contains the following: 1 Kimono robe 1 Katana – “Yawarakai-Te” (cuts through armor) 1 Bamboo Staff – “Staff of Endurance” (resistance to all elements) The Nippon DLC contains everything wizards need to honor their Far-East friends in a time of need. But it gets better – for a limited time Paradox Interactive will be donating 50% of revenue for Magicka: Nippon to the Japan Relief Support program! According to the Paradox web site: The Magicka Nippon DLC, created by Arrowhead Games, contains Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As noted earlier this week, Sony has brought back the PSN Store in North America today. Yes that is a couple of days early – but the roll-out is incomplete. They have brought the store online, but will take it down again for another update tomorrow which will add the ‘Welcome Back’ package. Here is some info from the Playstation Blog: The PlayStation Store is back online and thank you everyone for your patience. You will notice a huge lineup of new downloadable games, demos, add-on content, themes, avatars and videos. Also, PlayStation Plus has been updated with new full game trials, free games and DLC, free avatars and even more discounts Continue reading on Gear Diary …