Sometimes there is no better way to demonstrate that what a company is saying is pure rubbish than by putting it to a simple test. Apple’s Siri was released to simultaneous cheers and yawns – cheers from those who use it and yawns from Microsoft and Google (and their fanboys) saying that they already have the same technology. This week Microsoft made a big deal about how they already had a ‘Siri-like’ technology and all Apple had going for it was ‘good marketing’. This is very similar to what Google has said, and is the sort of thing that plays well to the faithful. But is it true? TechAU took a look… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

  Here at Gear Diary we work hard to give as honest and complete a report as possible when we review a product. That means we will point out the things we like but also point out the things that need improvement. It means we will rave about something we love but we will be critical of items we don’t. And when we recommend an item you can rest assured that we REALLY liked it. And when we warn you off it is because we value and appreciate your trust in us. And when there is an item that we like but cannot recommend because of a single flaw it pains us. And we try to be as fair as possible. That’s the situation with the iPhone case we are reviewing today. Great case, fatal flaw… It comes from HEX and is part of the Code Wallet line. This particular case is the limited edition HEX Free Wired Code Wallet. It is $49.95 and available here on the ShopHex website. It is a great case but it has a single flaw that makes it unusable, at least for me. What is that flaw? We’ll get there.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Here are some of the books I downloaded from Amazon this morning; all are free — for now — so get them quickly!  Entangled, by Barbara Ellen Brink: A Minneapolis attorney inherits a small California winery, reawakening memories that have lain dormant for twenty years. One summer of her childhood is a mystery she intends to solve. But digging up her past also lays bare the skeletons of others, including her mother’s. Entangled between what she once believed and a new reality, will she be able to live with the consequences of full disclosure?   Open Season, by Archer… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There’s no doubt in my mind that there’s a’gonna be a ton of Kindles sold this holiday season.  And let’s face it:  when your gift recipient gets their new Kindle, they are shortly going to be looking for a way to cover it and keep it safe.  Right?  So coordinate with your family and find out who is giving who a Kindle and hey, you have a gift all ready for them!  ”Oh, how wonderful!  You got me a case for my brand-new Kindle!  How did you know?” PDAir are who I’m talking about right now.  For the Kindle 4, PDAir is releasing: Leather Case for Amazon Kindle 4 – Flip Type (Black) Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I love when SCOTTEVEST comes out with a new men’s product, and I have the opportunity to do an early review; I love it even more when we get to review the new product and do something unique with it like, say, save YOU 10% off the purchase. I’m a bit of an SeV fan, and was one even before I came to Gear Diary. Barely a day passes that I am not wearing at least one thing that came from SeV. My wife Elana is quite used to it, and she has been quite impressed with the direction the company’s designs have gone recently. That’s why I thought I would mix things up a… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We’ve reviewed the Powis iCase for both the first and the second generation iPad. It is an impressive case that offers a great deal of functionality even as it protects your iPad in style. We got word that Powis is celebrating Black Friday and Cyber Monday with a 3-day 50% off sale on iPad and iPad 2 cases. This deal is good through Monday, November 28. You can see what is available and in what colors here on the Powis website. &nbsp… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We reviewed the Andrea SuperBeam phones last week and were impressed. (You can read the review here.) The headphones have an MSRP of $149.95, but we found them discounted to just $117.96. That’s a great price on headphones that make VOiP and voice recognition a pleasure.  Buy it here. [affiliate link]… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Alarm clocks are a pretty straightforward gadget. They tell the time, they wake you up when you’d rather be sleeping, and they’re slowly being replaced with cell phones. But while regular alarm clocks have become a bit boring, there’s a whole subset of funky/interesting variations (remember potato clocks when you were a kid?) Bedol has a really neat, eco-friendly twist on the regular alarm clock with their Water-Powered Clock. Is it a cool new twist on the basic wake-up call, or a gimmick of form over function? Read on to find out! The main gimmick of the Bedol Water Clock is that it runs on water… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

All the usual terms apply; you must either activate a new line (or upgrade an eligible account) on an Everything Plan with Data, Premium Data add-on and a 2-year agreement, but you can get your hands on the normally $249.99 Samsung Conquer for free until December 3rd from Sprint. Not too shabby! =) The Samsung Conquer 4G brings all the apps, features and speed you can handle without a price tag you can’t. Powered by a 1.0GHz processor and Android 2.3, the Conquer offers a simplified and speedy experience for enjoying media, games or browsing. For serious speed freaks, fire up the 3G/4G hotspot capability and share a connection with up to 5 Wi-Fi® Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Touch screens are totally awesome–they make your life a lot easier, open up lots of options for interaction with your technology, and gives you a more intuitive way to do stuff on you iPhone, your iPad, and even your car radio, for all I know.  There’s a few down sides, though–greasy screens, for example.  But now in the wintertime, it’s the fact that, yo, they’re touch screens.  How do you manipulate them while wearing gloves? Well, you have to buy the right gloves, is how.  One brand you might try is Etre, who have what they call their Touchy and Fivepoint Gloves.  Basically, the thumb and index fingertips are missing, keeping your hands warm, but giving… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of accounts in a lot of different places.  Google; Yahoo; Facebook; Skype; I don’t know what-all, frankly.  And many months ago I thought, “Yeesh; I sure would like it if all my IM accounts were in one place!” And then ShapeServices asked me to review IM+, an app that allows you to access all your IM accounts in one place. I’ll keep this short:  I use IM+ all the time, both the iPhone and iPad app version, and online via their web interface.  I find it an enormous help.  Maggie, my 16 year-old daughter, also uses it regularly, so you can see that it’s… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Welcome back to another weekend of insane game deals for you to ‘gobble’ up! 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 direct links! For these games I select based on how good the game is as well as how sweet the deal – but each week there are great games at fantastic discounts! And as always thanks to the crew at Deals4Downloads for their help finding everything. TOP 5 WEEKEND DEALS! King’s Bounty: The Legend for $2.00, Save 80% – from Get Games Metro 2033 for $4.99, Save 75% – from Impulse Medal of Honor for $3.75, Save 75% – from Direct2Drive Eschalon: [...]

Yes, I’m not sure how appetizing your favorite drink will be when served from this dispenser but one thing is certain – it will get a laugh (pity or otherwise). As the product description explains: Santa Claus makes everything so much more festive and joyous, even when he’s pouring Liquor for you! Well, he sure has a weird way of helping you to a little drink. He never stops delivering gifts to you with an overly generous helping hand. When you feel the spirit of the season, call on Santa. When you’re feeling like a scrooge, call on Santa. When you just need something truly bizarre in your life, call on Santa. The only thing that’s gonna be Continue reading on Gear Diary …

A little bit ago, I let you all know about an update to the StarWalk iOS app–an augmented reality app that lets you feed your inner astronomy geek.  I really quite like this app, and was glad to let folks know about the update. Now, you can get this (durn cool) app for a sale price of $1.99.  Plus, they’ve released yet another new revision:  5.5 for iOS.  I’m not going to go and babble to you about this app–just surf to the site and check it out, download the Lite version and see what you think, and then if you want, purchase it at the iTunes app store nearest you.  But really:  it’s pretty… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When I was in college, “going green” was something that only us radical, college-student types really talked about.  Well, us and those hippie environmental tree-hugger types who would chain themselves to redwood trees and lay in front of bulldozers and whatnot.  Nowadays, even big, giant multinational corporations are, at the very least, paying lip-service to the idea, if not actively working towards being “more green.” So what’s an enormous, jet fuel-guzzling German company going to do to be more green?  I mean, Lufthansa flies giant plane as a business, right?  How green can they be?  Well, this is Germany, where they’re planning to have all their nuclear power plants shuttered by 2022 and replaced by renewable… Continue reading on Gear Diary …