Nat Janoff – ‘Come Together Move Apart’ Nat Janoff – ‘Come Together Move Apart’ As I have said before, I have been thrilled and overwhelmed by how many great artists have contacted me as a result of my reviews here at Gear Diary. On the one hand it has meant discovering artists and music I would otherwise have missed … but on the other hand it becomes challenging to properly absorb all of the great music (I know, pity me right?). I still find myself discovering new things in recordings from last year, so it is great in many ways when the craziness of… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This is such a cool idea, I’m surprised we haven’t seen more “daily deals” type sites trying the Gaypon concept. Basically, they are a regular deals site, but a portion of the proceeds go to gay and lesbian charities, plus the companies featured in the deals are specifically vetted as being gay-friendly. It’s a great bit of niche marketing, and supports some very worthwhile organizations. Here’s a bit more background on Gaypon: Gaypon offers deals, discounts, coupons & special offers from gay friendly businesses that support the LGBT. We make arraignments with businesses that agree to extend special savings to Gaypon subscribers. Gaypon deals vary from everyday things like restaurants, fashion and entertainment to travel Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It’s simply the latest variation of that popular topic:  is your [thing] better than my [thing], or is it the other way ’round?  Wine, or beer?  Ford or GM?   Tastes great, or less filling?  Mac or PC?  ”Firefly” or “Buffy”?  (“Firefly”, dammit!) Yesterday, your faithful Gear Diary team was hashing over the topic of iPad, or Android tablet.  As you might expect with a collection of Appleheads, PC mavens, UNIX and Linux folks, and all the rest, it got heated, involved, and nerdly. It started with a friendly discussion between Francis and Joel as to which device Joel might soon be buying, and it developed from there:  … Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Late last night I spotted Madden 12 HD in the iTunes App Store, and like the impulsive fool I am … I bought it. I had planned to run through a full and thorough review of the game, but instead spent a few hours trying to be sure that I wasn’t actually still playing Madden 11! This afternoon I came across the review at TouchArcade … and it really sums things up perfectly. All they did was take their review from last year and make a few cross-outs and changes: ‘m kind of at a loss as to what to do with EA’s Madden 12 [$6.99 / HD]. I mean, a game Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy Peanuts Wiki) Headline aside, the timing of B&N’s financials and the announcement of exclusive Peanuts content for the NOOKcolor is a coincidence. But it does nicely highlight the positives and negatives B&N is facing as we head into a world without Borders. The real positive in B&N’s report is, of course, the NOOK. Sales were up 140%, and the latest projections puts NOOK marketshare at around 30%, which is amazing considering that B&N doesn’t have the deep pockets or entrenched online presence that Amazon does! They’re also projecting significant sales from Borders old customers, which doesn’t surprise me. Borders didn’t do enough business to stay viable, but they did have plenty… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When the Amazon Appstore for Android was announced, it was met with much fanfare. Several high-end applications were available free for a day or launched exclusively on Amazon’s Appstore, including FlexT9, Swiftkey, and FieldRunners, to name a few. Heck, we even mentioned an application which alerted you daily on what the free deal of the day was! However, not everything was perfect with the Amazon Appstore for Android. Still, it really seems to be catching on as another viable alternative for the Android Market. Or is it? As Michael mentioned in his post “Has the Amazon App Store Changed You Android Shopping Habits Yet?“… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(Image courtesy of Wacom) While the iPad has become synonymous with the term “tablet”, there has been other digital tablet technology, such as the Tablet PC and the Livescribe Pulse Pen which came out before and is surviving, albeit in more of a niche market. So it is rare for me to see any new devices, especially in the analog-to-digital space. While I love handwriting recognition on the Tablet PC and touch typing on the iPad, there has always been an appeal to writing on actual paper. The Livescribe handles this well, but requires the use of their special (Anoto-based) paper which has a series of microdots on it… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

So the day has finally come where the official announcement has been made for the Samsung Galaxy S II to hit US soil. The press conference is under way right now (Dan is there as I type), and just as we thought details are slim. A 4.5″ SAMOLED+ screen is destined for AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint, while Verizon is holding off for the Samsung Galaxy Prime, or Nexus Prime or whatever they decide to call it. As I watch the blogging commence I noticed while reading over at TmoNews some of the announced features of the new phone. What caught my eye is the promise of the robust Enterprise features that will be included with this phone… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The Hype: For those that like to use their E Reader without a cover, we’ve designed the Oberon E Reader Sleeve with extreme portability in mind. Lighter and thinner than our E Reader Corner Cover, our sleeve fits easily into a purse, backpack or briefcase. Our sleeve is leather lined and our magnet closure ensures the security of your device. We designed our sleeve so that the magnetized strap is on the front of the cover and our signature Britannia pewter strap attachment is on the back to avoid any potential scratching of the E Reader screen. All of our sleeves feature imagery on both the front and back of… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Move over MINI, we got the real Italian Job right here… Fiat is taking the ‘New World’ by storm and the hottest thing since the Vespa scooter has landed in America – the Fiat 500c Cabrio. The first “Nuova Cinquecento” debuted in the summer of 1957 as a cabriolet model and offered a distinctive canvas roof that opened right down the middle to the rear of the vehicle. Fast forward 54 years and Fiat builds on the brand’s spirit of building world-class small cars that ignite a “spirit of the times through simple design.” Sporting unique but modern Italian styling, the new 500c continues Fiat’s legacy of all-season performance, fuel-efficient powertrain options and… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Here at Gear Diary, we try to keep you up to date on the latest news. We’ve managed to get our hands on the December issue of Macworld! What’s coming up this Fall/Winter for Apple? Read on to find out! First up, new OS! Yes, OS X 10.1 is finally here, and it promises to bring even the most faithful Classic users into the new OS X fold. Plus Microsoft Office V.X is being released, so productivity will skyrocket with your new 700mhz iMac! But Apple needs to keep their eyes on the competition, since Microsoft now has their big release, Windows XP, out on the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Dell Vostro 3550 PLUS Inspiron Mini 1012 One of our all-time favorite New Gear Daily Deals is back!! For a limited time you can get a powerful Dell Vostro 3550 laptop AND an Inspiron Mini 1012 netbook at a huge savings. The market value is just under $1600 but you’ll pay hundreds less with this deal AND you’ll have a small, light netbook to grab and take with you on the go. It is a great productivity combination for work, school or just about anything else. The Vostro™ 3550 laptop is designed for small business and packed with the features you need to stay connected and in control. Its 15.6″ Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Engadget caught this bizarre and amazing video from some Cornell researchers, who pitted a Chatbot in a conversation with itself. Apparently, all Chatbot wants is to study philosophy! Don’t believe me? Watch the video below, and then check out my commentary showing how the Chatbot(s) just want to talk Plato. Let’s see…the Chatbot(s) start with social contract theory. They exchange pleasantries and indicate an attempt to set rules of engagement so no one gets stabbed in their sleep (do Chatbot(s) sleep?). Then they move on to personal identity theory; what are they? What is a robot? If one Chatbot is saved on a USB drive and the other on a hard disk drive, are they… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I have said it before and I’ll say it again – the iPod Touch is the worst iPod I have ever owned. Why do I say that? Because one of my main listening modes is in the car to and from work and between different offices, and changing anything requires you to look at the iPod Touch – and therefore away from whatever else you are doing! And as Carly mentioned here, that can be a very dangerous prospect. For a long time I used a second generation 4GB iPod Nano, but the screen slowly stopped functioning and then the device totally died last year, and I have been using… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As more and more people use their smartphones and tablets in place of more traditional laptops and desktops the need to be able to print directly from the handheld devices continues to grow. Just this weekend my father-in-law asked me if I could set him up with a way for him to print directly from his iPad. And this from the guy who just a short while ago had US check his email for him! Well Epson has just announced a new iPrint app that lets you print directly from Android smartphones. With the free app Android smartphone users can print directly from their Android device to any wireless Epson all-in-one printers within their wireless Continue reading on Gear Diary …