Last September Apple unveiled the iPod Touch 4th Gen, with super-slim design, dual cameras, and great performance. The Retina screen and top-notch graphics clearly marked the iPod Touch as the ‘gaming system to beat’ – and games like Infinity Blade still defy the competition a year later! With Apple about to unveil their latest ‘next big thing’, I wanted to step back and take a look at the iPod Touch, the oversized MP3 player that has changed the gaming industry at a fundamental level. The Nintendo 3DS came out earlier this year, and Michael Siebenaler did a great review here. Even before it was released I had decided I wasn’t… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

B&N has added Target to the places you can pick up a NOOK, if online and a B&N store aren’t your style. Target has actually turned into quite the ebook powerhouse, selling everything from Kindles to Kobos to NOOKs. It’s an impressive lineup, and you can check out Target’s full line of ebook offerings here. This also highlights an interesting dichotomy for B&N. On the one hand, they need to get the NOOK into as many hands as possible, and that means selling through every retailer who wants to carry it. On the other, one of the NOOK’s biggest selling points is B&N’s brick and mortar presence, and all… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

You just never know what those folks at USBFever are going to come up with.  Often, it’s something fairly straightforward–a bike mount for your iPhone, or a headrest mount for your iPad, or something like that.  But every once in a while it seems that they get that wild hair crosswise in their gizzard, and they do something kinda different.  Like this week’s iSoldier stand for your iPhone.  Silly?  Cool?  Strange?  Who knows?  But there it is.  Along with, of course, all the rest of the stuff that they put out for this week.  Decide for yourself! This week’s full list of USBFever gear: iSolider – The Mighty Stand for your iPhone / Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Recently I mentioned Magic Defenders in my post about Android fragmentation, and had a great reply from Clueless Ideas. As mentioned, they are working hard with me on a version for the Acer Iconia A100 as well! But now the game is available as a universal app (iPhone and iPad) on the iTunes App Store – for FREE! Head to Clueless Ideas for more info! Here is the description: What was once a peaceful land is now a scenario of a bloody war. The newly founded horde of Orcs is set to destroy, pillage and kill everyone they encounter. Your village was already target of a first recognition Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It’s human nature to get very focused on our personal niche areas of expertise. After a while, you become the proverbial hammer, and everything starts looking like a nail. I admit to having fallen into that trap before, and I fear Rich Adin fell into a similar trap with his latest column, “Is This The Next Sneak Attack on eBookers?” Basically, Rich’s issue is as follows (courtesy Teleread): I have enjoyed the “Safehold Series” of books by David Weber. Because Weber is one of my favorite authors, I buy his books in hardcover so I can read them and add them to my permanent library. A week ago, the fifth book in the series,  Continue reading on Gear Diary …

For our Gear Diary at 5: Sena’s Got Your iPad 2 Covered Contest we asked, among other things, what your favorite iPad apps are. Here are the “Must have iPad Apps” you mentioned… Angry Birds HD MobileNoter Dropbox DocsToGo 2Do ABC, NBC TV apps ESPN iReconcile Toodledo Reeder Jump – VNC/RDP Client Prompt – SSH Client Bluefire Reader PerfectReader Informant HD iSip Flipboard OneNote for iPad Scrabble Instapaper Netflix Evernote Pandora iBooks iWorks Suite App Shopper Words with Friends Slingo Supreme Dragon Dictation The Vault Incredibooth How many of your favorites are on the list? But… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We’ve become big fans of Acme Made’s bags over the last few years and are always excited when they release a new design. A short time ago we brought word of a new bag, the Acme Made Clyde St. Messenger and we now have one for review that we have been using for the last few weeks. It is a big messenger bag and, in typical Acme Made fashion, it has a good bit of understated-style and quality construction. Here’s a closer look.   From Acme Made: The Clyde St. Messenger is a solid, all-purpose messenger bag. It’s Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Those of us who use iPhone are excited to see what Apple has to offer tomorrow. For those who love Android tomorrow is already here and it goes by the name Samsung Galaxy S II. And if this is your next phone, our Gear Sponsor has shared a great deal with us. The AT&T Galaxy S II i9100 features a 4.3″ 480×800 super AMOLED display, 3G/4G connectivity, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, dual cameras with an 8MP rear camera and a 2MP front camera, 1GB RAM, 16GB of built-in storage with the option to expand via a microSD, TouchWiz UI, an HDMI port, microUSB connectivity, Bluetooth, GPS and more. Of course it is running… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Do you have Android phone/tablet and have two different GMail accounts linked up to your Android Market accounts? Or just have both GMail addresses on your Android device? Well, if you do and have tried to access the Android Market recently, chances are that you have seen some sort of ‘please login’ message, or seen far fewer apps on your ‘My Apps’ list than usual. That is because according to many users (myself included), since the last update Android Market seems to frequently (but not always) default to your secondary account. Also, many folks seeing this are looking for solutions and coming across a version 3.1.6 of the Android Market… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Oh, you can never have enough toys, right?  Or enough games on your iPhone.  Right?  RIGHT? Okay, maybe you can.  (Michael can’t; he’s got, like, several hundred.  But he’s a gamer; they’re different.)  But you and I both know that you end up searching and searching for that perfect combination of games, swapping them in and out, trying out new ones, ditching old ones you’re tired of.  So let’s just acknowledge that and let me say, “Hey, gang, here’s a new game!”  Monster Island.  I’m not even going to try to describe it to you; just surf on over and check it out for yourself.  Available on iTunes for a mere $0.99 (iPhone SD) and… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Does hearing “Final Countdown” make you laugh uncontrollably? Do you see Mae Whitman on “Parenthood” and immediately ask “Her?” Can you explain the concept of a “never nude”? If you answered yes, you’re clearly a fan of the short-lived but brilliant “Arrested Development” tv show. If not…it’s on Hulu. Go stream it and then come back. You’re back! Great. So no doubt you’re bitter it only had 3 seasons of incest jokes, model homes, hook hands, and frozen bananas. There have been rumors for a long time about a potential “Arrested Development” movie, but nothing concrete. However, according to TMZ we’re going to get a shortened 4th season AND a movie! This calls… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

NGD Deal: Dell Vostro 3550 w/a 1350cnw Color Laser Printer The Dell Vostro 3550 is 15.6″ notebook with a High Definition LED Display (1366 x 768) with anti-glare. The notebook has Intel’s 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i5-2410M processor at 2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz. It ships with 4GB2 DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz, a 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, an 8X DVD+/-RW with double-layer DVD+/-R write capability, a Fingerprint Reader with DigitalPersona software, a backlit keyboard with gesture touchpad and an integrated HD Webcam with a Digital Array Mic. To sweeten the deal the laptop ships with a Dell 1350cnw Network Color LED Laser-Class Printer. All of it can… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It is time to announce the winners of the Trick Out Your iPhone 4 Giveaway contest!!! Just a reminder. The next contest to end is the “Sena’s Got Your iPad Covered Contest”. You can enter here. 1. The Energizer Qi-Enabled 3 Position Inductive Charging System goes to… littlebuffalo 2. The PhoneSuit Elite Battery goes to… Lana D 3. The Beyza Cases iPhone 4 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It is time to announce the winners of the Music is Good for Your Soul Giveaway contest!!! As a reminder, the giveaway includes: A copy of the Levin-Torn-White CD JLab Wave AudioEngine W1 AudioEngine W2 The winner of the entire giveaway is: Andrew The winner has 24 hours from the time this post goes up to send us an email with contact/shipping information and the words “Gear Diary at 5 Giveaway: I won [name the item]!” in the subject to this Continue reading on Gear Diary …

In many ways, I like to think of Solitaire as the “go to” game for folks.  It’s always been there, even before the days when geeks inherited the earth; if you were home alone, you could grab that deck of cards and start playing.  The last time my Grandma visited before she passed away, I think all she did at our house was drink coffee, smoke, and play solitaire.  Of the few default games available on Windows even back in the beginning, solitaire was one. These days, with all the work going into mobile apps, you know they’re working hard to make solitaire–good, old solitaire–new and exciting and interesting.  Steampunk solitaire.  Anime solitaire.  Light cycle solitaire… Continue reading on Gear Diary …