Poor T-Mobile. They are now the only major mobile carrier in the US not carrying the iPhone. With the release of the iPhone 4S, now AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint have the iPhone 4 and 4S. Which leaves T-Mobile as the odd man out. But T-Mobile is trying to fight back. First, they issued a press release stating that they would love to carry the iPhone, but it is up to Apple. In the same press release, they explain reasons they feel their network is superior. Don’t get me wrong – I really love T-Mobile, as does Francis. Their “4G” network speeds are currently unmatched and very reliable, but Verizon is quickly gaining… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There are several new features in Apple’s iOS 5. One of my favorites is the updated Messages application. Previously, Messages only allowed sending of SMS and MMS messages. As part of iOS 5, though, Messages can now send SMS and Text messages to phone numbers (as it always could), but can also send iMessages over a network connection, bypassing your text message plan. How do you tell which one you’re using? Well, turns out Apple made it easy to tell when you are sending each message type, visually. They use two visual cues: color and the message in the input box. Text Message Text Messages (SMS, MMS) use a Green conversation bubble and the message… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When my coworker was preordering his new iPhone 4S, we had a debate about colors. I was firmly on the side of black, and he said he was considering white because it stood out a bit more, and since most people have black iPhones, it eliminated that moment of “is this your phone or my phone” that happens when everyone has their iPhones on the table at the same time. Of course, you can solve this with a case, but who wants the same boring cases that everyone else picks up at the Apple store? Instead, you could snag an iStylize case from ErinCondren.com that has your name or initials right in the design! No… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The votes are in, and I know you’re all thrilled to learn the results of our “What’s your primary ebookstore” poll. As it turns out, Gear Diary readers break down fairly similarly to what’s widely assumed about ebook demographics. Amazon’s Kindle was overwhelmingly first, with B&N pulling a solid second place, but far behind Kindle’s numbers. Meanwhile, iBooks and Kobo duked it out for the remaining share, with one vote for “Other”. So what does this mean? As I said, this was highly unscientific, and you could argue there’s a lot of factors skewing the results: our readers may be mainly US-based, which means they’re more likely to shop B&N and iBooks over Kobo, we… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The Notes app that is built into iOS has always struck me as a bit anemic. That’s hard for me to write, considering that my cousin works for Apple and is one of the key people involved in its development. Unfortunately… it’s kind of true. Sure, Notes is great for jotting down quick memos, but that is about it. There is very little you can actually do with it other than, well, take notes. Documents can’t be formatted. You can’t add pictures. The app doesn’t even have folders, so you can’t organize your notes. The message Apple is sending with it is simple, “This is the most basic of notes apps. If you want something… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Augmented reality apps are not new, but it seems that every now and then we get an app that brings together innovation and compelling fun in a way that makes it easy to forget just how cool the technology is behind the game! SkinVaders is such a game, allowing you to use your own face – or that of your friends – and transform it into a gameplay area for the SkinVaders game. According to the developer: “SkinVaders demonstrates a world of possibility created by Total Immersion’s powerful augmented reality platform D’Fusion Studio, ” said Bruno Uzzan, CEO of Total Immersion. “Players are literally brought into the game as they fight the invasion of Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Bear with me, here; the title of this post brought to mind forcefully a portion of an episode of Disney’s Kim Possible, when Kim’s sidekick Ron is asked/told to babysit his new baby sister.  It comes at about the 3:20 mark: My kids are 16 and 13, but believe me, Ron’s Dad’s comment about “What to Expect When You’re Panicking” totally hit home to me.  Panic; it’s what you get when you have new little ones, and no mistake.  (And that’s Elliot Gould doing the voice of Ron’s Dad.  Elliot Gould!)  I think we thumbed several of those “What to Expect” books half to death when we were expecting Maggie (the 16 year-old), and… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Usually each week, PDAir almost inundates us with a list of new items with which to cover your precious gear.  This week, not so much; just a couple of items is all.  But even though I’m perfectly happy with my current iFrogz case, I have to say that I do like the concept of the wallet case for your iPhone, shown above.  And of course that’s only one of a b’zillion different styles that PDAir has.  Check them out if you’re looking for a case. The full list of this week’s PDAir releases: Aluminum Metal Case for BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 – Open Screen Design (Silver) Aluminum Metal Case for BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Nintendo hasn’t had a great year – the Wii, which spent a few years atop the sales charts is now lagging badly behind. And the Nintendo 3DS launch was lackluster to be kind, and it took an unprecedented price drop to bolster sales. Now as the holiday season fast approaches, Nintendo has teamed up with Hulu to bring the Hulu Plus service to the Wii and 3DS – which means viewing by as many as 100 million systems worldwide. Here are the major updates from Nintendo: Hulu Plus: With Hulu Plus, Wii and Nintendo 3DS users will be able to instantly stream thousands of TV episodes – including the entire current season of Continue reading on Gear Diary …

A bit of context or this post before we dive to the specifics. The first iPhone launched in 2007. At the time, Steve Jobs described it as a device that brought a media player, a web browser and a phone together in a single device. Jobs made it clear that he was going to “Think Different” and, therefore, there would not be any apps available for the iPhone beyond those already on the device as shipped. I was using Windows Mobile phone at the time and had a slew of applications for my devices. I looked at what I was doing and what Apple was offering, and I laughed. This wasn’t “Think Different”; this was, I thought, “Think… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Recently I stopped carrying a laptop with me when we do family travel: my Android smartphone, iPad and iPod are enough to allow me to do everything I need wherever we go. There is almost always free WiFi available, and if not I have my smartphone. But what about those in an area without WiFi access, or those who want to use a laptop or tablet in a car? For them there are wireless hotspots such as the MiFi available from most carriers – but those all require expensive monthly access charges with huge overage fees. What about the lighter user who wants the access – but not the $50 monthly fee… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As more and more games hit the Mac App Store after finding success as iPad games, sometimes actual full-sized Mac games get lost in the shuffle. Take Tiny Token Empires, for example. It has a bright and charming style and ‘Match 3′ combat system that might make you think it is a simple game, but underneath there is a full sized game to match the full sized $25 price tag. Let’s take a look and see if it earns that paycheck! The Hype: Tiny Token Empires is an amazing mix-it’s a puzzle game, « Match 3 » game and turn-based strategy game. The player plays one of the five major ancient empires… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Welcome back to another weekend of insane game deals! I am sure I’m getting jaded – it seems with each week I am unimpressed by the list of hundreds of games at 50% off or more and have a hard time grabbing five favorites … but when I dig in I still realize how awesome the deals are! I am focusing my lists more on the deals of 75% off or more to keep things manageable … but still have some that are >50% off – but that is my lower limit! I am continuing my ‘top 5 weekend deals’ section where I grab my favorite 5 deals of the week and provide… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Can you picture yourself out camping for a week? Your car is parked in a lot miles away, and you have been hiking for days. You’ve got everything you need in your backpack, and you’ve been eating those freeze-dried dinners that they sell at REI. Civilization is nowhere near, and you are looking forward to having a shower … in a few more days. You want to stay in touch with your family, but there are no chargers built into the side of the trees you’ve been passing, and your iPhone died yesterday. What do you do? Okay, I am having trouble picturing myself in that situation, so let’s try a different scenario. =P Let’s say that you… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy Poster Scene) One of the benefits to reentering the iOS ecosystem is easy access to the music I have in iTunes. Yes, I could drag and drop albums onto the SD card in my Droid, and I did have a few albums on it, but one thing that iOS does far better is music sync. I’ve been enjoying just listening to tracks on random, especially things I haven’t listened to in some time. It made me realize there’s some stuff I still love from my high school days, as well as things I like but not nearly as much as I did at 16, and then there’s the songs that pop up and I think… Continue reading on Gear Diary …