I had two different students come in to see me the other day. Both had brand new iPhones. Both iPhones were in the same style of case although in different colors. Yes, both students had opted to buy Speck’s CandyShell case to protect their new iPhone. The CandyShell line has been a huge hit for Speck and, as a result, the company is continuing to expand the line. They sent a few different samples over and we will be taking some video looks at them. First up, the Speck CandyShell View for iPhone 4/4S. From Speck: This clever twist on Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When my kids were little there were no tablets or smartphones or other things, so it is cool for me watching folks at work who have iPads and little kids get to do ‘edutainment’ activities that used to require sitting in front of a PC and dealing with a keyboard and mouse. Today on the iTunes App Store a bunch of iReading books are available for FREE! Here is the list: iReading HD: The Nutcracker for iPad (pictured) for free iReading: The Nutcracker for iPhone or iPod touch for free iReading HD: Peter Pan for iPad for free iReading HD: The Adventures of Pinocchio for iPad for free iReading HD Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Over at Teleread, they’ve called Wired magazine onto the carpet for a set of eBook reader reviews that pitted the low-end Kindle against touchscreen, higher-end competitors, and for not breaking out the Special Offers/non-special offers versions of the Kindle. The Wired writer responsible for the segment responded in the comments, and after a few days of mulling it over, it seems to me that his explanation hurts print magazines more than it does to exonerate Wired. For reference, the review is over two pages: Page 1, Page 2. Here’s what Tim Conway said over at Teleread: The problem that we had doing the roundup was that Amazon couldn’t get us a Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The other day we reviewed Sena’s gorgeous Hampton Wallet for iPhone 4/4S. It is a luxurious leather case that doubles as a wallet and is a pleasure to hold and to use. Yesterday, however, I found myself a tiny bit frustrated by having to open the cover each time I wanted to access my phone. I also found that, when using the case, one handed iPhone manipulation is impossible. I still love the case but it did make me wonder what the same approach would be like if it did not have the cover. Let me introduce you to Speck’s CandyShell Card. It is an open-faced CandyShell case AND a wallet. Is… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

What is the first thing you do when someone tells you not to worry? That’s right – you start worrying! Earlier this year I posted about how IGN had sold Direct2Drive to GameFly. GameFly is a console game rental subscription service, and had wanted to branch into PC game distribution and potentially rentals and saw Direct2Drive as a possible way to do that. I had basically forgotten about the deal for a few reasons: first, we haven’t heard anything in 7 months; second, because Direct2Drive has been much quieter in general, leaving the big sales for Steam and GamersGate; and finally because of all the angst about GameStop taking over (and ruining)… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One thing I like about the Facebook Timeline view (perhaps the only thing) is the ability to hop back in time to see what was going on in 2007. Now TimeHop will help you get a daily dose of short-term nostalgia. TimeHop sends a daily email of the user’s activity on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and Instagram, from exactly one year ago. You simply link those accounts and then you start getting a daily update of exactly what was happening the year before! Does that sound interesting to you? If so, head to TimeHop and check it out! Source: Neatorama Continue reading on Gear Diary …

MAME, or the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, is something I remember fondly from the 1990′s as a way to replay all of those classic arcade games from the 1980s! Double nostalgia! But now I can satisfy my need to replay a system from the 90′s that took me back to the 80′s as iMAME has landed on the App Store as a universal app for iPhone and iPad. Here is the description: iMAME is an application designed to recreate the hardware of arcade game systems in software on modern personal computers and other platforms. The intention is to preserve gaming history by preventing vintage games from being lost or forgotten. Includes Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This isn’t a ‘indie bundle’, but rather just a great deal from Strategy First! You get 14 full-sized retail games for $30 – with a normal price of $257.86! Here are the games: GM Rally Real Warfare 1242 Theater of War 2 Kursk 1943 Vivisector Cryostasis Cuban Missile Crisis Ice Crusade Fantasy Wars Star Wolves Star Wolves 2 Konung 3 Ties of the Dynasty Fairytale Faces of War Whirlwind Of Vietnam Swashbucklers Blue vs. Grey There are some excellent games in the package, and you would expect to spend ~$2.50 – $5.00 even on the best Steam or GamersGate sales, so this is a great price!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The latest (though perhaps not last) entry in holiday mega-sales on the iTunes App Store? Big Fish Games! They are a great publisher of casual games, and have a treasure trove of great games on sale across the hidden object, time management, mystery, beat-the-clock, and other genres Break away from the holiday bustle with gifts for YOU! Now is the perfect time to complete your Big Fish Games collection, or start a new one for that new gadget under the tree! 66 of our great games are on sale NOW for only $0.99 USD. Know anyone who’s getting a new iPad, iPhone or iPod touch as a gift Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I should have known better than to rush into buying music on Google. As I say repeatedly, they have the absolute worst music service bar none. Yet that old siren song of ‘great music, low prices’ lulled me into not checking Amazon. BIG MISTAKE. On Google I got the music, can play it on my PC or Android phone, and download it one … track … at … a … time. And THEN manually import it into iTunes. And THEN fix the FUBAR MP3 info and tags, because Google can’t even manage that 2002 level of technology. Had I gone to Amazon, I would have gotten the same… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Quick! Are you searching for one last gift for a big reader, or you wanted to buy Grandma a Kindle but the screen is too small? Woot! has you covered with a Kindle DX for only $199! It is refurbished by Amazon and that gives you a $179 savings (Amazon still has this at $379)! Best of all, if you order by 12pm Central time (1pm Eastern, 11am Mountain, 10am Pacific) your order should arrive by Christmas! Head over to Woot right away!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Native Instruments is one of the pioneers in the virtual instrumentation market. Back in the 90′s, you needed a bunch of physical instruments chained together with a MIDI processor to get all the sounds you wanted. Each had a labyrinthine interface and special requirements and non-standard settings. NI came out with the first modular virtual synthesizer, perhaps before computers were ready for them! Since then they have remained on the forefront of virtual instrumentation and sound production tools, and now they are giving away free limited versions of their most popular and powerful tools! Here is what they say about themselves: Native Instruments is a leading manufacturer of software and Continue reading on Gear Diary …

… all you have to do is ‘Like’ their Facebook page! Here is the description: Like us to free get HD video converter for Mac. Xmas and New Year special offer! This HD Video Converter software can convert videos among MKV, AVCHD, M2TS, MOD, AVI, H.264, MPEG, MOV, WMV, Google TV, WebM, Vpx8, etc, so that you can play various videos on iPhone/4S, iPad, iPod, PSP, Androd, Mobile phone with ease. For Mac OS X only. Original: $45.95 Now $0 Tips: 1. Click the above link and you will get a zip file. 2. The installation file and license code are included. 3. The Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As a married dude with kids, I don’t do a lot of parties, and those that I do plan are usually attended by folks several decades younger than me.  If you get my drift. Even so, help planning parties, especially at this time of the year with the heavy party activity, is a Good Thing.  And you know the cry:  ”There’s an app for that!”  In this case the app is called Hatch Plans, available for your iDevice.  Makers Location Media say: With New Years Eve, a few weeks away it’s time to start finalizing plans for this eventful night.  Coordination can be one of the biggest obstacles to a successful New Years Eve ESPECIALLY Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today’s deal brings us Lenovo’s IdeaPad Z470 14″ laptop with a Sandy Bridge Core i5 processor and 8GB RAM. IdeaPad Z470 features four USB 2.0 ports (one eSATA combo), a card reader, HDMI output, a DVD burner, a 6-cell battery, and a 1 year warranty. The deals on this laptop start at just $589 and include free shipping. Here are the key deals our Gear Sponsor has highlighted. Core i5, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, DVD drive: Was $949 but now is $599 with FREE shipping. Core i5, 6GB RAM, 500GB HDD, DVD drive: Was $999 but is now $589 with FREE shipping. Core i5, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD, DVD drive: Continue reading on Gear Diary …