Amazon started selling the Kindle 3G With Special Offers (“Kindeal 3G) in May, for $164 – a drop of 25 from the full non-ad-supported version. Two weeks ago, they dropped that price further, to $139. This week, they have started selling the refurbished Kindle WiFi for $100 and the refurb Kindle 3G for $130. These are not ad-supported versions of the device, but the full versions that sell for $139 and $189 respectively, in their non-refurb models. This sure looks like the typical inventory-clearing moves of a manufacturer about to introduce a new model. The current generation was introduced right around one year ago, and speculation is rife that they are going to introduce a touch-screen version to compete… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There’s more to life than gadgets and gear — hard to believe I know — but true!! For example there are things like… food and drink. And with so many great flavors and food experiences out there, we just had to start bringing you some of our favorites. That’s where the Yum Log comes in. The Yum Log is all about the food and drink experiences you just want to have. And the first Yum Log entry is… Trader Joe’s Naturally Smoked Sea Salt Elana brought this home the other day and it is just YUM. It… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Yesterday the Google + iOS app was updated, with the following changes noted: – Huddle settings – Aggregated circle add notifications – iPod touch & iPad support – Performance and stability improvements So … they are claiming iPad ‘support’? What does that actually mean, anyway? That it will install and be a minimally functional app that looks and performs terribly? Well, if that is the case, I guess they are correct. When I think of ‘support’ I look to the iPod Touch version, which looks like this: These are the identical screenshots, yet… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image courtesy of Tokyoflash Today we are presented with yet another Tokyoflash masterpiece pulled directly from their Concept Blog. Tokyoflash changed things up a little bit more this time when they announced the Kisai 3D Unlimited watch. This watch features a six-sided mirror finished watch face that displays the time and date in a 3 dimensional like display. The illusion of 3D is given by the angle and placement of the digits on the face which displays a cube like pattern giving off the effect of 3D time. This looks like it’s actually one of the less cryptic displays to read, but is still certainly one of their coolest designs yet. The watch is… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Freddy Krueger makes his way to the Mortal Kombat gaming realm as a new downloadable character for PlayStation 3 and XBox 360 versions.

As most tech-heads are aware, this past weekend HP ran a $100 off ‘instant coupon’ special on the HP TouchPad. In addition, certain retail shops ran additional $50 off specials and Staples even had a $100 off deal, meaning it was possible to get the 16GB version of the TouchPad for $299 – $349. I know many folks who simply couldn’t resist the price and went right out to grab one. Since I am a big Palm webOS fan as I indicated in my review of the Palm Pixi Plus, I certainly printed out the Staples coupon – yet I didn’t buy one. And I will detail five reasons WHY I didn’t. When… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Here’s a great deal on some awesome headphones. Monster’s Beats Pro Noise Canceling Headphones (model no. MHBTSPOEWH) feature plush ear cushions, sound insulation, a deep bass response, flip up ear cups, a lightweight aluminum frame and more. And did we mention these are Monster Cable’s Beats? Normally $399, our Gear sponsor has tracked down a deal that will save you $120. That brings the price down to just $279 and they will even ship for free. Details and ordering information can be found here. Monster Cable Beats Pro Noise Canceling Headphones via LogicBuy Continue reading on Gear Diary …

  If you are a Star Wars fan (aren’t we all?), and if you are of a certain age that you saw the original in the theater (I was 10!), and if you can remember the scene on the Millennium Falcon when Chewbacca and R2-D2 were playing the 3D holographic game Dejarik (coolest special effect ever!), then you are going to love this new Toshiba Qosmio laptop. Love it! But first, allow me to digress for a moment … You remember the scene, right? It’s when R2-D2 had just made a good game move that upset Chewie, and C3PO felt the need to immediately defend it as legit. That’s when some of the greatest advice ever given… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It’s a challenge, you know.  Every week, USBFever puts out something like a dozen new products, and it’s a challenge for me as a professional writer (I do actual tech writing for a tech company, believe it or not!) to introduce these weekly lists imaginatively.  But you know, they’re so . . . relentless!  Every week!  New stuff!  It just keeps coming!  They just won’t stop!  They’re like, I dunno, RoboSanta from Futurama, except not evil.  THEY JUST DON’T STOP! Ahem!  Sorry about that; didn’t get enough sleep last night.  And I had a weird recursive dream in which I dreamed about Uma Thurman, and then met her in another dream in “real life”, and tried to… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The ThinkPad E420 strikes just the right balance of power and weight for the professional who needs a no-compromise portable computer. New Gear Daily Deal: Save Up to 50% Saving on the Lenovo E420 with this Back to School Pricing Event. Check out this NGD Deal! Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It started off less than two weeks ago with five games, and has just kept growing! But all good things come to an end, and now there are just 24 hours left to grab the Humble Bundle #3! The Bundle now includes the entire Humble Bundle #2 as well as two bonus games added to the current bundle and also almost a week left of Minecraft trial. Head on over to Humble Bundle and grab your now! Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you have one of the sexy 2010 or 2011 MacBook Airs, then it makes absolutely no sense to cover that svelte beauty in a big fat laptop case. ACME Made has got perhaps one of the thinnest and most minimalistic sleeves that I have seen, so whether you prefer to carry your Air in a laptop bag or not, the Skinny Sleeve Stretch Shell may be its perfect protector. I was sent a review sample in black, but there is also a purple version; the Skinny Sleeve is available for both the 11″ and 13″ MacBook Airs. Composed… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image courtesy of PocketBerry I’m always happy to get a news item about a product with which I’m familiar, like the iFrogz cases, or the Mophie Juice Packs, or ScotteVest gear.  It’s so easy to say, “Hey, check this stuff out!” when you’re personally familiar with it, you know? In that category is IM+, a central IMing app that lets you consolidate all your various messaging apps into one place.  I use IM+ Pro on my iPhone, my iPad, and via their online site as well, and it makes a huge difference in my messaging (although there are a few glitches in the online version with regard to Facebook, but honestly that’s a minor nit)… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There are some folks a wee bit suspicious about Twitter and their recent moves to make it (let’s face it here) more difficult to develop and deploy nice third-party twitter apps.  Why are they doing these things?  Opinions vary, but one prominent one is that they want to hog the app development and sales to themselves. But that’s not stopping people like Osfoora from developing some nice apps–not yet, at least.  And OneLouder is upping the ante by offering their software for use on the iPad.  So if you’re thinking you want to keep on tweetin’, but avoid the monolith that is Twitter, then maybe you should check out TweetCaster for your iPad, available on iTunes… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’m unusual among nerds in that when it comes to gadgetry, I generally go for function over form.  Let’s take turn-by-turn GPS direction apps–I just want ‘em to tell me where the heck to go.  Most of the time, honestly, I keep the voice turned off, and only watch the map with one eye. But that’s me, honestly, and as Sami often points out, I’m weird.  Lots of people like a little more interactivity from the turn-by-turn apps then that.  And into that breach has stepped Garmin, with a nerd dream: Darth Vader and Yoda-voiced navigation.  Let’s face it: if this is your thing and you already have a Garmin system, that alone is more than… Continue reading on Gear Diary …