I have written much about Spotify, including this hands-on I did a while back. But the time is fast approaching for everyone to get their own chance to try out the service! Today Spotify opened up a ‘Sign Up for an Invite’ page, touting ‘We’re coming to the U.S.’ and offering a lucky few to be among the first to try out the service! So don’t delay – head to Spotify and register your email address for an invite! Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We are all feeling the financial pinch!  Blue Plate Special is a weekly review of bargain apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Nothing over $.99. My youngest son had his fourth birthday on July 2nd. We had a small party with some family and a few friends, and we always let the boys choose their party theme. Riley decided long ago his would be a Transformers party complete with cups, plates, napkins and a cool cake with Bumblebee. Most of his gifts were Transformers, so we had the complete experience. We are waiting until we leave for… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Astraware is a solid game developer, and I’m sure you’re familiar with some of their hits like Bejeweled, Text Twist, and Bookworm.  Now–and coming in under the category of “the more competition the better” — Astraware is offering a their game Tradewinds 2 for the nook.  As our own ‘Dino pointed out, the nook color is really an Android device at its heart, and the Astraware people clearly leveraged off of this fact. So, have you been waiting for some games to be available for your nook color?  Then you should surf on over and check it out! Show Press Release (1 More Words) Astraware and Sandlot Games are excited to announce the launch of Tradewinds 2 for Barnes Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today’s Gear Deal brings big savings on HP’s Pavilion Elite h8xt Intel 2011 “Sandy Bridge” Core i7 customizable Desktop PC. It features a brand-new design with metal surfaces, polished finishes, subtle curves and angles, and illuminated accents. It also sports a built-in valet tray atop the tower for easy cable management, tool-free access to various internal components, top-mounted 15-in-1 card reader and more. With this deal you will get a FREE- NEW HP direct store is offering $150 instant savings + $150 web-use stackable coupon code on HP Pavilion Elite h8xt Intel 2011 “Sandy Bridge” Core i7 customizable Desktop PC. It features a brand-new design with metal surfaces, polished finishes… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?  Why do flight attendants tell you to remain seated until the aircraft comes to “a full and complete stop”?  Is there such a thing as an incomplete stop?  Or perhaps a half-full stop?  Why can you be underwhelmed and overwhelmed but not “whelmed”?  Why can’t you find small, medium, and large eggs any more; why is it just large, extra large, and jumbo?  Why do fast-food places only seem to have two sizes: way too small, and way, way too big?  Why is daily life, well, so stupid? Despite what my wife Sami tells me regularly, it is clear that I am not the only… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

A month ago Waterfield’s latest case design would have had me scratching my head. After all, who needs a case for their Apple TV? But it is not a month ago, and when I was packing to leave town for a bit, one of the things I actually included among my summer gadgets was… my Apple TV. Yes, the diminutive iOS device is already become a powerful media player and with iOS 5.0 and wireless mirroring coming soon it will become even more central to many of our entertainment centers. Bringing an Apple TV along… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One of the more substantial cases we reviewed for the original iPad came from a company whose wares were previously unfamiliar to us. Powis iCase reflects the company putting a great deal of thought into their designs. A close look at the original case revealed a company will to put in the small, easily overlooked, extras that add value and, in the process, created a case that had looks and functionality. Judie reviewed an early version of their iCase for the original iPad, gave the company some feedback, and then they sent updated versions of the case to both of us. (You can read that dual review here.) Now Powis is Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’m pretty damn happy with my iPad, it’s true.  With my iPad, the family collection of iPhone 4s, and my (sorta) new MacBook Pro, we’re turning into a Mac family, and that makes me pretty happy, honestly, because I hate Windows, and am not at the point where I’m ready to jump to Android (yet). But that doesn’t mean that I’m not happy to see competition in the tablet space come up.  Like the HTC Flyer that Judie and Dan recently reviewed.  Now, I don’t know diddly about how well it works or whether it’s a good product; I just feel like… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We get loads of different types of news at Gear Diary, from tech to ebooks to games to random stuff. Some is interesting and some isn’t – that is the way of things. But seldom do we get something that on the surface seems to be another dreary clone of another game that once we read the release causes so much laughter among the editors. To see what I mean, let’s play a little game. Similar to what you probably did somewhere between middle school and college, where you would add on ‘in bed’ or ‘between the sheets’ to sayings or famous speeches, we’re playing a substitution game. In the following press release… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Austin advertises itself as (aside from being weird) the “Live Music Capital of the World.”  Which is probably true, honestly; almost every restaurant and bar in the city has at least a tiny stage and a place for an audience.  Seriously, you can drive down any street with a bar or restaurant or, for all I know, an ice-cream shop, in the evenings and hear music coming out. But another thing that Austin–the home stomping grounds of Lance Armstrong–has is bicyclists.  An ungodly number of bicyclists, frankly, zipped up into their spandex, shaving their legs, making left turns into the right lane because they didn’t bloody pay attention, blasting through stop signs, riding three abreast down… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The ups and downs of the whole Sony PSN hacking and outage have been discussed here and elsewhere in grueling detail … but now that it has been a month since the service came online you might wonder how things have changed at Sony – have they changed how they treat their customers, or are they still a company marked by hubris and arrogance? Given the title, do you REALLY need to ask? I have two stories, one personal and the other impacting many PSN users around the globe. The Qriocity Curiosity Just before the PSN outage I signed up for the Qriocity 30-day trial based on an email from Sony… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Later this month Pantheon, the seventh book in the Star Wars: Lost Tribes of the Sith series arrives. To celebrate, Amazon has put ALL SIX previous books up for FREE for the Kindle editions! Here is the list: #1 – Precipice #2 – Skyborn #3 – Paragon #4 – Savior #5 – Purgatory #6 – Sentinel In general the reviews for the series are solid – not the best Star Wars books, but certainly not the worst! If you are a fan of ‘Expanded Universe’ fiction, definitely grab these NOW! Source: SlickDeals Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Billie Holiday has always been a fascinating and captivating story for many reasons – she was a jazz singer of immense talent, an African-American women who rose to super-stardom … but then crashed and burned due to her own personal tragedy and ended up destitute and exploited to feed her addiction. She was more than ‘just’ a singer – her methods of interpreting melody and harmony were immensely influential in every field of music, both with vocalists and instrumentalists. There is not a singer today who doesn’t bear some influence from the woman Lester Young nicknamed Lady Day. There have been numerous tributes through the years: Diana Ross famously portrayed Holiday in ‘Lady Sings… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Admit it, you’ve drained your smartphone battery more than once playing Angry Birds. It’s so hard to leave a level without 3 stars, and the next thing you know you’re blowing past the low battery warnings and then “poof”, no more Angry Birds for you. Well, that was the bad old days of technology, before you could buy your very own “Angry Birds” toy set. Yes, thanks to the good folks at Think Geek, you can build your own live action Angry Birds game. Even cooler, it’s a multiplayer game. Play as the pigs and try to outsmart your birdbrained opponent, or play as birds and try to smash your friend’s hard work. This looks like… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

After the long holiday weekend lets jump back into our gear deals with this new 2011 model Samsung UN55D6000 55″ 1080p LED HDTV. It features an ultra-slim design, 4 HDMI inputs, 2 x USB ports, and more. With this deal it will come bundled with a Blu-Ray Player with Wireless LinkStick. All of this is just $1,599.99 you will get a $200 gift card and free shipping. Gear Deal: Samsung 55″ LED HDTV and Blu-ray Player and Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter and $200 Gift card via LogicBUY Continue reading on Gear Diary …