With the Holiday travel season already in swing, a great app like TripIt is more essential than ever! And today Amazon has the full ad-free version for FREE at the AppStore for Android! Here is the description: Say farewell to frantically searching for confirmation e-mails in your inbox–or worse yet, hunting down that pesky manila folder. TripIt is an easier way to organize and share travel information. Don’t Sweat the Trains, Planes, and Automobiles Organize and share all your travel plans Juggling plane tickets, car rentals, train schedules, and hotel reservations while traveling can be logistically challenging, to say the least. With the TripIt Travel App for Android Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We start the week with a great deal from our Gear Sponsor. Dell Home is offering entry-level two 20″ IN2020M LED LCD monitors in a bundle. Dell’s IN2020M monitor sports a high-gloss slim black bezel , DVI (HDCP) and VGA connectors, 8,000,000:1 high dynamic contrast ratio, 1600 x 900 resolution, 5ms response time, and an tilt adjustable stand. Normally these two monitors would cost $319.98. With this deal you will save $150. That brings the price for this bundle down to just $169.98 and it will even ship for free. At less than $85 per unit and backed by a 1-year warranty, this is a great deal at a great price. Details and ordering can be found here. Gear… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

While my personal preference of games released this week is the port of 2004′s ‘The Bard’s Tale’, there is no doubt that the big release of the week is Infinity Blade 2. Doug has been beside himself waiting for the game to arrive, Dan started the ball rolling with his thoughts on the graphics, and me being me I grabbed it immediately upon release. So what do we think after a short time playing? Read on and see!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Back in February of 2010 I reviewed the ZAGGsmartbuds. At the time, this was my conclusion So are the ZAGGsmartbuds worth their $79.99 price? Absolutely. They are comfortable to wear for extended periods, sound very good and, thanks to the Hangin’ Tight system, have what is probably the best cable-management system I have used. At under $80 I would say that they are not only worth their price tag but that they are a good deal to boot! The ZAGGsmartbuds have an MSRP of $79.99 and are available directly from ZAGG. And right now ZAGG is including a free dual USB car charger with purchases of over $40. What I Like: Love Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! As I said last week, the well has pretty much run dry on pre-Christmas releases, but that doesn’t mean nothing is arriving! There are actually two games of interest, and one big multi-platform release. The big release is Mario Kart 7 for the Nintendo 3DS. I don’t care how many versions you have (I have GBA, DS, GameCube and Wii), there is just something about Mario Kart that is awesome fun – and I really hope Nintendo nailed it for this one! The platform is gaining more interest, and a success could go a long way for them. This week also brings the movie tie-in The Adventures of Tintin: The Game, which is based on the upcoming Steven Speilberg movie that is getting some good early looks. The early looks at the game, however are nowhere near as positive. But for me the biggest release is the PSN port of the classic Final Fantasy VI, which I’ll be playing on my PSP Go later in the week. For me this game is the pinnacle of the franchise – more fully formed and modern than earlier games [...]

Doug wrote about the new ‘reimaginged’ Tetris app, which includes the following: · The fan-favorite Marathon Mode. · A brand new level-based Galaxy Mode, where players can use game-changing power ups to dig down and shatter their scores. · Innovative Marathon One Touch Mode, a simple and easy-to-use control scheme for Marathon mode that is specially designed for touch screen gameplay. · New gameplay challenges delivered via the never-before-seen Tetris Log system. · Tetris Rank functionality that tracks players’ lifetime “lines cleared” to assign an overall rank. · Ability to subscribe to the T-Club, the only Tetris fan club to give members exclusive access to new mobile challenges and content. These sounded pretty cool… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

  Gear Diary has been selected to compete in a BenQ contest that starts Monday December 5th, and I am personally asking all of you to vote for us, or rather — for me, because I am going to be filming a series of videos that will be submitted for voting.  I’m a little nervous about it, because this is a contest unlike any we’ve ever done. What’s in it for you? VOTE & WIN! BenQ has hand-selected technology and lifestyle influencers to compete for YOUR votes with videos. Every week, starting Dec. 5, 2011 – Jan 8, 2012, these top influencers and bloggers will post videos showcasing BenQ’s newest, innovative Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Have you ever knocked a laptop off the arm of a couch on to a carpeted floor and lost everything since your last backup? Or spilled just a tiny bit of water on the keyboard and were met with ‘that smell’ that told you the motherboard was cooked? If these are real concerns for you, then you need to check out the GammaTech Durabook S15C2 Rugged Laptop. The Durabook is meant to handle just about everything you can throw at it and live to boot up another day. The kind folks at GammaTech sent me one to review – let’s see how it did! And don’t worry – there is a video of all… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Although this video is a couple of years old, it is amazing in its power and simple truth – we have a certain musical instinct in us that is easily called forth. At a forum in the 2009 World Science Festival, McFerrin took center stage to show how by simply suggesting a phrase and an intervallic leap, the inherent musicality in all of us takes over and we find the correct note. He moves one step physically, we move one step musically, and so on. It is amazing to watch. Here is the description of McFerrin from the event: What Bobby McFerrin does is not an act; it’s Continue reading on Gear Diary …

image courtesy of BerryReporter  Clinton recently wrote an opinion piece entitled, “As RIM Writes Off The Playbook, The Pressure is on Microsoft to Make a Complete Windows 8 Tablet“, in which he says: This morning the Wall Street Journal reported that RIM is taking a $485 million charge for their lackluster tablet, the Playbook.  The charge comes by way of a markdown in the value of the massive inventor that RIM still has of the devices.  It is a brutal and costly reminder that if you kinda-sorta-maybe-woulda-shoulda your tablet strategy, the price can be steep.  Very steep. and The challenge facing Microsoft is that they are behind when it comes to a tablet strategy.  Regardless of what Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I have made my love for Portal and tower defense games well known … so imagine my virtual ‘SQUEEE’ when I heard that Defense Grid: The Awakening was getting a Portal-based DLC expansion called Defense Grid: You Monster. I reviewed Defense Grid back in 2008, saying: But the two most important things that make this game a must-have for PC gamers are the design and balance. The design is all about how much time and skill was put into coming up with maps and areas that will keep you challenged and thinking, yet allow you to fairly win. Defense Grid: The Awakening lays out your options slowly starting from the Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Everyone loves a Steam sale, the opportunity to get some of those games you’ve been meaning to play, or those you have played but would rather have digitally, for just a few dollars. But every now and then they do something even more amazing – and this is one of those! They are calling it the “Daily Wishlist Giveaway.” Each day they are featuring a ‘Daily Deal’, which started with Terraria, at a deep discount. But better still – simply by having a wish list of at least 10 games, by visiting the Daily Deal page you are entered to be one of ten people to win the Top 10 items from your… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I have never been a huge Tetris player, but even I am aware of its addictive qualities.  Sami loves it, for one, and they even joked about it in an episode of “Northern Exposure” way back in the 90s when Clinton was President.  Marilyn Whirlwind tells Joel that, yes, he did agree to let the Shaman Leonard observe him for a week.  Joel asks when this so-called agreement happened.  ”You were playing GameBoy”, she said.  ”GameBoy?!!  I would have agreed to anything when I was playing GameBoy!”  And I have no doubt that the game he was playing was Tetris.  Beware what you agree to while playing Tetris, that’s the lesson here.  (I would have put up… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Last spring I wrote an article titled “Handheld SNES Might Arrive This Summer!”, which I promptly forgot about and assumed it was another one of those pet projects that wasn’t going anywhere. Well … now it HAS ARRIVED! Here is the full press release: Make it a Supa Christmas with SupaBoy Handheld Video Game Console Supa Sweet Handheld Console Shaped Like a SNES Controller With 3.5 Inch Screen that Plays SNES Cartridges Hyperkin will launch the highly anticipated SupaBoy Handheld Video Game Console December 1st, 2011 in time for the holiday shopping season. Equipped with a 3.5″ screen, the SupaBoy is designed to look like an original SNES controller Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I think the whole “Augmented Reality” thing was a victim of a bit too much hype, you know?  I mean, the original iPhone didn’t have a gyroscope, it’s camera was only 2MP, it didn’t have GPS–trying to ladle “augmented reality” on top of that was kind of a losing proposition out of the gate. But now we’ve got a pretty good resolution cam in the iPhone, it has GPS and a gyroscope, the body of internal software and apps is much larger, and some of these augmented reality apps are becoming pretty interesting.  There’s a London Museum one that I quite like (and wish I could go back to London to check out), and I’ve mentioned… Continue reading on Gear Diary …