The tactic employed last year by EA Games – to have a HUGE sale that ended just before the holiday App Store lock-down – resulted in loads of paying full price for EA games because they dominated the charts. Without making the cynical comment on my tongue, I am happy to see that rather than take that route, G5 Entertainment is offering a deal that will allow folks with new devices over the holidays to enjoy great deals – regardless if they are on PC, Android or iOS! Here are some details: G5 Entertainment is giving iOS, Android and PC owners a lot to be happy about this holiday season. Starting December Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I wrote about the Humble Bundle #4 last week, and as always they have added even MORE great stuff to the deal! Here are the details: Hey there! We’ve just added five classic Humble Indie Bundle 3 games to Humble Indie Bundle 4! If you’ve already purchased it, visit your download page now to download VVVVVV, Crayon Physics Deluxe, Cogs, And Yet It Moves, and Hammerfight including all of their soundtracks! If you haven’t bought Humble Indie Bundle 4 yet, you can nab this bundle-in-a-bundle by setting your price higher than the average. Humble Indie Bundle 4 is more stuffed than a holiday turkey. With up to 12 cross-platform Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Many of the people I’ve turned onto Evernote find it invaluable. Others, however, underutilize the service and, as a result, don’t see what the big deal is. That’s where Evernote Essentials: The Definitive Getting Started Guide for Evernote by Brett Kelly comes in. As Brett explains: The amount of information we want and need to keep track of today is, frankly, ridiculous. Not long ago, my desk was covered with piles of financial statements, medical records, automotive service receipts — and that didn’t even include everything dealing with my job. We all struggle to keep our information organized and accessible, but without the right tool for the job, it can seem impossible. Thankfully, a tool Continue reading on Gear Diary …

For fans of pianist Lyle Mays, best known as the keyboardist and co-composer with the Pat Metheny Group, ANY sighting or musical release is an event. This isn’t just because his music is wonderful – it is because it so rarely happens! His last album Some video just surfaced from a CalTech series early this year called TEDxCaltech where Mays appeared with a group in January. Here is a bit about the event: What is TEDx? In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Once again the HP TouchPad surprises me! Developer GameLoft, who has a massive army of clones doing battle on the iTunes App Store and also has some games that work on one or two Android devices, has just started an awesome sale for … their HP TouchPad games! Games on sale include NOVA 2, Shrek Kart HD, Asphalt 6 and Assassin’s Creed – Altairs Chronicles HD! Here is the description for NOVA 2: The ultimate sci-fi FPS is back! Get ready to step into a whole new level of gaming! 6 years have passed since the events depicted in the first episode. Humanity is Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Do you know what it takes to make a hit song? Mathematicians from Bristol University in the UK purport that their ‘Hit Equation’ is extremely accurate at predicting what will and will not be a hit. They have a site called Score-a-Hit that describes all of this. Here is a snip: Mathematical Definition To quantify the hit potential of a song, we make use of the regression technique. Mathematically, the hit potential (peak UK chart position) of a song is denoted by a variable y and a set of audio features x of the song are also presented. A pre-trained classifier f(x)=w’x is then used to estimate the hit potential Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I left my house yesterday and headed into the office. I was in the car. My iPhone was in the car. My wallet, however, was on the kitchen table. Oops. Yes, I NEVER leave home without my iPhone but, time and again, I seem to forget my wallet. That is a bit of a problem but one that is easily solved by using a wallet that is also an iPhone case. We’ve looked at a few previously, but many had a fatal flaw in that they lacked a camera cutout. In addition, we’ve also previously debated the question of whether having your wallet and phone together in a single place is worthwhile. We won’t… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

For most people, when they hear ‘box’ related to cloud storage they might think of ‘another’ company, but Box.net has been a very popular service and has recently been giving away ’50GB for Life’ to mobile users. Now they are changing things again, starting with their name – they are now just BOX. Here are some details from their blog: We Dropped the .net Bet you didn’t even notice! Don’t worry: everything has transitioned seamlessly, including all your shared links, widgets, integrations and content. Thanks for being the most important part of … not Box.net … nor Box.com … just Box. Learn More Get More Out of Box for Mobile Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I can’t remember who it was–I honestly think it was someone here on Gear Diary–but when Apple put out their FaceTime app, there was some discussion as to what it would mean to the phone industry.  After all, if you can (essentially) make phone calls for free via your WiFi line, what do you need an AT&T or Sprint or whatever cell phone account for? Now, I still have no idea what Apple has in mind as far as grabbing communications market share, but the market is absolutely not standing still.  Witness Pinger, the iOS and Android (and Web) texting app.  Today they’re announcing the addition of Voicemail to their product.  So you can text… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One of the most highly anticipated games of the year launched today – STAR WARS™: The Old Republic™ from LucasArts and Bioware. The game is in the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) genre, and has been compared to the hugely popular World of Warcraft in terms of style, though obviously in a very different setting. Here is the press release: EA, BioWare and LucasArts usher in a Force in online games as STAR WARS™: The Old Republic™ goes live today From Midnight Store Openings to the Opening Bell of the NASDAQ, Gamers and Star Wars™ Fans Celebrate the Start of their Personal Star Wars Saga Online Today Continue reading on Gear Diary …

James Bond’s successful Nintendo Wii installment of Goldeneye expands to the PlayStation 3 with PlayStation Move compatibility, a special “sharpshooter” bundle, and an exclusive character/weapon.

As Christmas Eve approaches and the world eagerly awaits the arrival of Ole’ Saint Nick, children of all ages can track the big guy as he and his sleigh make their way around the globe visiting those of us who have been naughty or nice. OnStar, in partnership with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), is offering its Santa Tracker services once again this Christmas. Beginning at 7 a.m. EST Dec. 24, OnStar subscribers, including those with the new FMV OnStar systems, can simply press the blue OnStar button and request a Santa update. Advisors will share Santa’s current location through 5 a.m. Christmas morning. “We see this holiday tradition as staying true… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you don’t know what Dropbox is by now, you probably don’t need any free cloud storage space. Just in case, it’s a great free service that lets you store files, music, pictures, or whatever you want up to the “cloud” with the ability to view, download, share, retrieve from almost any computer or mobile device. Today some of us in the beta test program got an email with a link to the new beta. The current stable app is available on the market but since it has been officially release, little has been done to improve the UI or overall user experience. I promptly downloaded the new app to my Android phone and was… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The first view of JRR Tolkein’s universe most of us got was through the wonderful story ‘The Hobbit’, which is a less intimidating initial read than the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Now we get a first look at the upcoming Hobbit film made by Peter Jackson with most of the original Lord of the Rings cast! Here is the synopsis from the Apple trailer site: “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” follows title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy alldietsreview) Sure, you want to eat better, and maybe that’s your new years resolution. But be very, very careful when shopping, as labels like “natural” and “low fat” don’t always mean something is good for you. While that’s become (somewhat) common sense, it seems like crappy foods are finding more and more ways to sneak into our grocery carts. Fitbie came up with a list of 16 foods that are significantly worse for you than they sound at first glance, and a few of them may really surprise you! Before you swap sugar for agave syrup, or believe the “corn sugar” commercials, do your research. Fitbie says… Continue reading on Gear Diary …